Welcome to Consumerist’s 7th Annual Worst Company In America tournament, where the businesses you nominated face off for a title that none of them will publicly admit to wanting — but which all of them try their hardest to earn. So it’s time to fill in the brackets and start another office pool. That is, unless you work at one of the 32 companies competing in the tournament. [More]

When we first reported that Capital One would be purchasing online bank ING Direct, the response from ING customers was overwhelmingly negative with some variation on “noooooo” being a common comment. But lest you think everyone at Cap One is a barbarian (and/or viking), a rep for the perennial Worst Company In America contestant talked to the NY Times to allay ING customers’ fears about their new overlords. [More]

The barbarians at Capital One have reportedly laid siege to the ING castle and are prepared to take control of online bank ING Direct, a move that would allow Cap One to leapfrog over the head of several competitors. [More]

The banks of America are breaking new ground every day in the science of nickel-and-diming consumers with fees that start from the second you open an account to the moment you angrily close your account… only to move it to another bank with a different set of fees. But since there are so many ways in which financial institutions can bleed your account dry, the folks at CNN Money have come up with their list of the most annoying fees. [More]

Cathy’s husband died about a year ago, and she recently discovered he had a secret CD account with ING that he was using to save up for a surprise vacation. For no apparent reason, the bank is freezing her out of the $2,000 in the account. She says it will cost much of than that in lawyer’s fees to try to get the money, but she’s fighting anyway. [More]

As complaints about mortgage companies go, Chris’s gripe about ING Direct isn’t something that will bring tears to your eye, but it does work as a fair word of warning for those considering refinancing with the e-bank. He says the bank slashed its interest rates but more than tripled the closing costs. He writes: [More]

Rick recently moved and needed to set up a checking account quickly, so he went with ING, the online bank with which he already has a savings account. He tells personal finance blog Poorer Than You, the bank wouldn’t give him account because it couldn’t verify his identity.

Last week we told you about Rob who never got a $1400 wire transfer when he was a Netbank customer, and then after ING acquired the bank when it failed, their customer service never fixed the transfer despite 8-months of calls assurances. We gave Rob the phone number for ING executive customer service (302-255-3005) and now he happily reports:

Within a few hours of my initial contact, Laura got back to me via phone to let me know exactly what happened. It appears that the initial wire transfer paperwork was filled out incorrectly by the sender and the money hadn’t ever made it to Netbank or Ing Direct but only got to American Express Bank (who as acting as an intermediary in this transfer.) I contacted American Express Bank and in a few minutes they were able to confirm that the wire was incorrectly setup and the funds had been returned to the sending back on August 10th…

NetBank is the first federally regulated bank to fail thanks to the ongoing subprime meltdown. The failure spotlights the importance of FDIC insurance, which guarantees deposits of up to $100,000. Customers who abided by the FDIC limits and deposited less than $100,000 with the internet bank will become ING customers, and will have immediate access to their funds. The 1,500 customers who collectively deposited $109 million above the FDIC limits stand to lose half of their funds.

Nick was shocked to receive an email from ING telling him that his Electric Orange checking account would be closed because of his credit score. Nick was not the only one; similar letters were sent to 5,300 account holders.